Category Archives: Baseball

The city of Detroit recently went bankrupt. So I was really keen to visit it and see what it looks like. Detroit is a 6-hour train ride from Chicago, and home to the Detroit Tigers baseball team.

The Tigers had a great season last year, winning the American League, but they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. So far this year, they have been playing well, leading their division by a few games.

Outside the main gate of Comerica Park, there are Tigers everywhere!

Comerica Park was built in the late nineties, the first game was played there on 11 April 2000, against the Seattle Mariners. The Stadium only cost an estimated $300 million to built. From what I saw, I think that was money well spent. The city of Detroit has been going backwards for the last few decades, and real estate prices have naturally suffered.

One of the exhibitions depicting a decade in the Tigers history

So as part of an effort to help rejuvenate the Downtown of the city in the late 1990s’, Comerica Park and Ford Field was constructed in the heart of Detroit. Ford Field is an indoor American Football field, right across the street form Comerica Park, and is the home of Detroit Lions.

Comerica Park, was well designed, and is extremely spectator and specifically kid friendly. There is a host of off field activities to keep the entire family occupied. The game we went to turned into a real classic.

Sun setting on the scoreboard, its was a perfect afternoon for baseball

The Tigers went into the lead very early, but then lost momentum when one of their players was ejected from the game. This allowed the Kansas City Royals to come back into the game. The game was all tied in the middle of the 9th innings.

Then up stepped Miguel Cabrera, one of the Star players in the Tigers team. The crowd was getting really tense. But the All-Star did not disappoint and hit the ball out of the park very close to our seat in the right field. Everybody went crazy!

Panorame from our right field seats at Comerica park

It was a perfect night for baseball! After the game, there was an entertaining fireworks display. The sold out Comerica Park had a fantastic atmosphere! The Tigers colours have a lot of orange in them, which reminded me of the Free State Cheetahs.

All in all it was just about a perfect summers Saturday at Comerica Park, with great weather, a capacity crowd, and a tense but victorious game for the home team. I am sure the locals would be forgiven for forgetting about the cities problems on such a picture perfect occasion.

Fireworks display with the scoreboard in the background at Comerica Park

Miller Park is one of the few ballparks in Major League baseball with a retractable roof. Miller Park is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is only a one and a half hour train ride from Chicago. I took a trip there last Sunday to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play the Washington Nationals.

View from our seats at Miller Park, while an Elvis impersonator signs the American anthem

The stadium is very impressive and there was a real carnival atmosphere. There was loads of entertainment for kids and they even handed out free bobble head figures. The games was also very interesting; the Brewers looked really clueless early on, making errors and it looked like their heads were on a different planet. But around the 5th innings things started to change and they managed to come back and win it in the end.

View of one side of the retractable roof

What is interesting is that the stadium was funded through taxpayers’ money, by adding an additional sales tax in the surrounding counties. This additional tax will run until about 2017 to recoup the money, more than 20 years after it started.

The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, the only World Series Champion team Milwaukee have ever had, they have since moved to Atlanta

The cost for the stadium is estimated to have been around $400 million. Which sounds like a bargain compared to the $1,5 billion that was spent on the new Yankees Stadium in New York, which does not even have a roof. And holds only few thousand people more than Miller Park.

The view at the stadium from outside, with the free bobble head figure they handed out on the day.

The Brewers now play in the National League but was part of the America League prior to the 1998 season. The Brewers have never won the World Series, although the Braves, now in Atlanta, won the World Series in 1957 when they were still in Milwaukee.

After the crowd has gone

It was great fun doing a daytrip to Milwaukee and seeing a baseball game at Miller Park. The only hiccup was a delay on train back to Chicago in the evening, when another train hit somebody that was trespassing on the train tracks. So we were delayed for a few hours.

The New York Yankees are to Baseball as the Bulls are to rugby in South Africa, and Yankee Stadium feels a little like Loftus. They have won 27 World Series Championship, 16 more than the nearest rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees last World Series victory was in 2009, which was their first season in the brand new stadium.

Myself and Jano outside Yankee Stadium in New York!

My first baseball game I have ever attended was at the old Yankees stadium in 2007, which was just across the road from the new stadium. Construction on the new stadium had begun in 2006 already.

The modern concourse at the new $1,5 billion Yankee Stadium

The old Yankee Stadium was often referred to the house that Ruth built, after the Yankees most famous player Babe Ruth. Which was bought from their mortal enemies the Boston Red Sox in 1919. That trade is believed by Red Sox fans to be one of the reasons behind their 86-year World Series drought.

The outfield, bleachers and the huge scoreboard at Yankee Stadium

The new Yankee Stadium has all the bells and whistles. Escalators and elevators are in abundance to help move the crowds to their seats. The walkways are wide and there are food outlets everywhere.

The giant US flag flying behind the bleachers at the new Yankee Stadium

The new Yankee Stadium can hold over 50 000 people, and Yankee fans are every bit as passionate about there team as Bulls fans. It must be intimidating for a visiting team to play at the Bronx zoo (one of the many nicknames from Yankee Stadium). The Yankee’s record shows dominance rarely seen in any sport.

As with most baseball stadiums Yankee Stadium is steep in tradition and the Yankees rich history is on display through this wonderful modern masterpiece, which cost $1,5 billion to build.

Jano and Kerry with the baseball diamond in the background.

If you are ever in New York, try and make it to a game at Yankee Stadium, you can watch the crowd as much as the baseball and learn a little more about America’s favourite pastime… and about the passion that drives it.

Wrigley field must be one the most amazing places to visit in Major League baseball. Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs and is the second oldest ballpark in the majors, after Fenway Park in Boston (home of the Red Sox). It was build in 1914 and now has a capacity of 41 000.

Busy concourse before the start of the gam at Wrigley Field.

The Wrigley Field is located to the North of the city, while US Cellular Field home of the White Sox is in the south side of Chicago. Last year when we were is Chicago for a few days, we went to two games at Wrigley Field, but the Cubs lost both of them. So I was keen to go again and hopefully see the Cubs win!

So after a visit to US Cellular Field over my first weekend in Chicago, it was time to go watch the Cubs on the second weekend. Getting to Wrigley Field is really easy, the red line stops about 50 meter from the stadium. As soon as you are off the train you can feel the festive atmosphere in the streets, there is even are brass band playing.

Brass Band playing outside Wrigley Field before the game.

The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, the 104 years since then is the longest championship drought of any major sports team in North America. But the fans still show up and support their team. Wrigley field was close to capacity for this game, and the Cubs managed to win in extra innings.

Great view of the all the action from our seat on the upper level at Wrigley Field.

One of the very unique features of Wrigley Field is that many of the houses on west and north side have built seats on their roofs to allow people to watch the game from there. Many of them seem to have an indoor area, bars and televisions to help make the experience as nice a possible. It sounds like they have an agreement with the Cubs to share revenue to allow them to do this.

Rooftop seats on the house across the street from Wrigley Field

I love going to baseball game, and will visit Wrigley Field a few more times this summer!

Probably my favourite thing to do while traveling is going to sporting events. The US is particularly fun in this regard, since there seem to be endless choice of sports to watch. And many of them we seldom get to see in South Africa. Baseball is probably my favourite US sport.

Stunning view of Chicago from the 500 Level of US Cellular Field

Baseball has such a rich history, and has been a professional sport for almost 150 years. Chicago has two teams, the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. I have been to Wrigley Field the home of the Chicago Cubs last year when we were in Chicago, so I was keen to go to US Cellular Field, the home of the White Sox.

The White Sox rich History is displayed on the walls of the Concourse

US Cellular field was completed in 1991 to replace the then oldest major league ballpark Comiskey Park. US Cellular Field (New Comiskey Park back then) was built across the road of the old stadium, which was demolished for parking after completion of the new one. It is a very impressive stadium, with a capacity of just over 40 000. US Cellular Field is really easy to access; it is located next to a big 14-lane highway running south from Chicago. I was able to take public transport to about 400 meters from the stadium.

The Giant Scoreboard and Bleacher seat at US Cellular Field

The view of the City from the upper deck is amazing. There are three levels in the stands, and all seats have an unobstructed view of play. The concourse behind the stands is filled with refreshment counters and the walls are decorated with pictures and stories of the White Sox legends. The White Sox last won the World Series (meaning the champions of the US) in 2005 after an 88 year drought.

The view from one of the 40 000 unobstructed seats at US Cellular Field.

It is really fun to visit a place like this. I feel like I am part of a sacred game and get to see the culture of a country and city from the inside.